Stabwound Intercourse

As relatively redundant as their style might have seemed, even by the late 90s when the whole 'brutal death metal' thing as its own self-sustaining evolutionary entity was but a few years old, one has to grudgingly admit that Gorgasm knew how to make an entrance. With one of the most provocative band names and titles, and 'evocative' cover images, at least to those low down dirty sick fucks who gorged upon this niche, you were not forgetting Stabwound Intercourse anytime soon. Add to that a spiffy production job and tight, technical musicianship and you had one of the more explosive young acts to come along post Deeds of Flesh or Cryptopsy, and one of the Midwest's most punishing sources of pure pathology alongside names like Fleshgrind and Lividity.

Truth be told, beyond the elevated level of lyrical sickness built upon the Cannibal Corpse blueprints, there was just not a lot of nuance or distinction in what Gorgasm were writing here. The punctuality and phrasing of the guitars is highly redolent of Deicide's first few records, only amplified to the level of aggression that New York's Suffocation brought to the field. Tremolo riffs are affixed to an impressive double bass drum performance by drummer Derek Hoffman (who later played on Fleshgrind's mediocre Murder Without End), and you've got plenty of palm muted frenzies and a few well timed breakdowns to help break up the bursting momentum like energy beams splitting asteroids for space miners. The leads are hardly adventurous or interesting, but at least they're there, tearing off the central riffing structures. The bass is just as dextrous as the rhythm guitar, with a lot of treble-heavy, farting propensity to make itself noticed, and I would have to think pretty hard to summon forth memories of another rhythm section that was so tight and professional so early on in a brutal death metal act's career...

Not to mention, Gorgasm made one of the most efficient, earliest uses of the toilet bowl, sustained gurgle guttural vocal that initiated a competition within the genre that persists today: who can create the deepest, butt-muddiest flushing tone?! Your prize?! A crate of obscure scatological Euro-porn?! There are a few occasional wretched rasped lines which remind me of Glen Benton's 'higher range', but in general you're getting this persistent, porcelain god pummeling that really feels fit to the strenuous performance across all the instruments. Unfortunately, where Stabwound Intercourse failed me was in the sheer quality of songwriting. Only a handful of the riffs across the six tracks of the EP really stick out, and the rest are forgettable within moments of hearing them. It seems that wherever the Indianans 'branched' out to explore a range of options they grew exponentially more interesting. For example, the classical structured death/thrash riffing break in "Coprophiliac" or the excellent use of the horn-synthesizers during the bridge of "Horrendous Rebirth", in which they cling dreadfully to the surgical sounding guitar progressions.

Otherwise, it's really just more of the same chugging, squealing and banal composition we'd already come to expect from the second tier of bands, and which sadly continues on through the 21st century. With lyrics about mutilating female genitalia, eating human waste, and initiating sexual intercourse with the posteriors of the deceased, there's a sense that this would 'sate' your average inbreed who jacked off on such sadism and misogyny, with is all well and good (if you're one of them), but it's just not an effort which stands up to long term scrutiny; largely because its few inspired moments of brilliance too easily trump the remainder. In hearing this after so many years, I just know that the Gorgasm members were capable of more curious atmosphere and musicality, and wish they had infused that influence more often. That said, if this is your thing, you could certainly do a lot worse. The 16 minutes of material certainly never lets up its onslaught (save for a sample), and for 1998 it was, if not unique, at least ahead of most of the flock to follow.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Stabwound Intercourse is only 16 minutes long but it is an unforgettable piece of brutal death metal. Full of nonstop blasting and grinding riffs, in spite of which there is a hint of melody, yes you heard me right, melody. Not something you’d associate with a name like Gorgasm right? The bass notes are audible 100 percent of the time. If you’re a bass junkie like me you will think you died and went to hell. Rest assured there is a rhythm, this isn’t a free-for-all bazaar of brutality, it’s very cohesive. Hectic and grinding but cohesive. And at the same time far from tame, this isn’t your mother in law’s version of rhythmic. And all those people that think death metal is just noise. This wouldn’t change their mind but it’ll probably make them afraid to sleep without a night light. The vocals are deep and gurgly, borderline squealing without sounding like the band is fronted by a fucking farm animal. Horrendous Rebirth is the best song for being so smooooth and heavy as a brick tied to a corpse drowned in a lake. It’s also got one of the most apocalyptic riffs ever backed by you guessed it, an awesome bass rhythm.

This is up there with the death metal greats, too bad this band doesn’t get recognized for their musical merit as much as their consuming brutality. Masticate to Dominate is generally known as Gorgasm’s best effort, but this is every bit as good and a hint of what was to come. What can you do in a quarter of an hour? Brew some coffee? Take your pants off and get ready for bed? Stabwound Intercourse takes the same amount of time and is better than all those things. It is also the only shirt I don’t wear in public, so gore fiends if you don’t have this you need it.

Although I believe Gorgasm's other works are incredibly done, this is their most interesting listen. Gorgasm executes very catchy riffs and memorable vocals patterns with this EP. The riffs are always speedy and pummel along with the bass drumming at all times, sometimes adding an occasional melodic interlude. What's most memorable about this album is the vocals, mainly less belching, more variety; I'm pretty sure the extra vocalists do the trick.

All the tracks on this CD are standout tracks, and the only reason I gave this album 5 less is because they should have written more songs in this style. I'm pretty sure I've said all that's really needed to be said for this EP. Enjoy.

Everything from this band's name, to the album cover, to the EP title, to the song titles, lyrics, samples, vocals, and instruments is just goddamn sickeningly awesome. Gorgasm's full-length albums were some of the best brutal death I've ever heard, and so naturally I decided to check out this EP. One thing that surprised me was how polished and produced they were, especially for a debut.

"Necrosodomy" starts off with a pretty disgusting sound, which is upsetting mostly because I can't really tell what it is other than the buzzing of flies. The song itself kicks in with typical churning double-bass drums and brutal riffs, and it doesnt seem to ever slow down. There is a kick-ass melodic (melodic compared to most BDM) interlude about halfway through, but it doesn't last for long.

"Disembodied" is a great song filled with lots of chugging riffs and overlapping vocals. It's also on the longer side of most BDM songs, clocking in at around 3 minutes.

"Stabwound Intercourse" is more of the typical Gorgasm affairs. The riffage is tight, as are the drums. The best thing about this song is the vocal tricks that are pulled off, which add a very interesting flare to this track. Ending with some bad-ass pinch harmonics doesn't hurt either.

"Coprophiliac" starts off with a hilarious sample (which I used in the title), and then starts with the typical churning riffs and nonstop bass drum. The most impressive thing about this song is how catchy they made it, yet how brutal it still is.

"Horrendous Rebirth" is the best song on the EP. It has this amazing epic feel to it. It constantly builds, adding layers of chugging melodic riffage, and it has an impressive guitar solo, rare for BDM.

"Clitoral Circumcision" reminds me of Necrophagist for some reason. It has a more technical DM approach that their other songs, but it's still brutal and heavy as fuck. The last segment of this song is played in 10/4, which again is more of a technical DM style than Gorgasm's typical BDM, which is refreshing.

I also gave them an extra 1% for being from Chicago, as that's where I live.